Chocolate Coated Dreams
by SashaW
Summary: Ariel Chesney, is a poor, grown up orphan, all alone. Dreaming of one thing, a job at Willy Wonkas chocolate factory, when she meets Charlie Bucket can he help her? Mix of Wilder and Depp as Wonka to get the perfect Willy.
1. Chapter 1

No name to this story yet.

But its dedicated to Bethany D

Ariel sighed and wrapped her hands around bars in front of her. The gate she had walked by for many years was again closed. Willy Wonkas Chocolate factory had been her dream job for over 5 years. But she never saw anyone go in or out. And she basically lived right next to too! She sighed again and pressed her head in-between the bars resting it for a few minutes. Out of nowhere came a young boy and he squeezed himself through the bars. With out thinking about she reached out and grabbed the boy's shirt.

"Where do you think your going?" She asked spitefully.

"I live there!" He said struggling against her hold.

"No you don't! That's Willy Wonkas chocolate factory!" She stated clearly.

"Uh, yeah. Willy made me his heir, me and my family live there!" He shouted continuing to struggle. Ariel let go of him in surprise. She looked at the boy carefully, but he seemed genuine. She sighed a third time and put her hand back on the rail. "My god, you know how lucky you are? I've been dreaming of this place for years. I was here when it opened. I'm working a chocolate store so I can learn all I can about Wonkas candy. I study the ingredients, the taste, smell, and feel. Chocolate is my passion." she finished, not even sure if the boy was still there. "Its all a waste though. Wonka doesn't even let people in. How he would hire me is beyond me. Just a childhood dream I guess." She glanced behind and spotted her small tiny house that she lived in alone. "God," she continued, "my house only has two rooms. One room has a bed, stove, and fridge, and the other room has a toilet. I'm living the life of luxury!"

Then she felt the boy's hand on her arm. Apparently he was still there.

"Do you wanna come in for dinner?" He asked kindly.

"Are you serious?" She said, her jaw dropping. The boy nodded and motioned for her to come through the gate as he had. She tried as hard as she could to squeeze through the bars like him but she couldn't quite fit. So instead she stuck her hand through and said "Ariel" waiting for him to shake it.

"Charlie" He said smiling and ringing her hand. He nodded to somewhere behind her and the gate open swiftly. Ariel took a breath in and stepped through. She could feel that her life was about to change.

She followed Charlie, almost skipping behind him.

"Your really excited, aren't you?" Charlie said laughing at the sight of a **26(figure out actual age later) **skipping into a chocolate factory. Ariel smiled and thought for a second.

"Well, yeah!" She said laughing a bit. "This is my dream. It would sound pathetic to say that a chocolate factory that I have never been inside is what I dream about most." She paused for a second. "But it is."

"Well, come on then!" shouted Charlie grabbing her hand and starting to run. Ariel laughed and began to run with him, until they got to the doors of the chocolate factory. She looked down at him and he looked up at her. "Ready?" He asked placing his hand on the doorknob.

"All my life." She whispered nervously. Charlie smiled and swung the door open wide. And Ariel saw… a hall, just a hall. Nothing special about it, it was gray with a red carpet going down the center. Charlie continued to hold her hand, and led her down the plain hall. But wait, it was getting smaller as they went. What on earth? She thought, bending her head as it now touched the ceiling. When they finally reached the door Ariel was practically on her knees.

"Why is it so small now?" She asked Charlie as they sat at the door. Charlie closed his eyes and seemed to be trying to remember something.

"To keep all the chocolately goodness that's inside." He said opening the small doors wide and Ariel nearly fainted at the sight of what lay behind them.

It was a colorful, bright, and looked like they were outside again. But many things were different. The trees had lollipops on them, the grass looked almost too bright, and the river that floated past them was pure chocolate. Ariel's knees weakened and she fell to the floor. Charlie dropped down beside her, plucked a piece of grass and offered it to her. She took it but raised an eyebrow that the young lad.

"Try it," He whispered soothingly. Ariel hesitated, but put the single blade of grass into her mouth and its sweet flavor filled her.

"You can eat the grass?"

"You can eat everything. But you have a dinner to attend so you shouldn't!" Charlie said standing up and motioning for her to follow. Ariel got up and noticed something she had not before. A small house, it was quaint and cute. Charlie opened the front door and they were assaulted with "hellos'' and "welcome backs!" But they immediately stopped when Ariel entered. She looked around to see the inside was just as small as the outside. There were 4 old people scattered around a rectangular table. And a middle-aged couple was working at the counter preparing a delicious smelling meal.

"This is Ariel, everyone!" Charlie said motioning to her. "Ariel, this is everyone!" He said motioning at the family. She was then introduced to Grandpa Jo, Grandma Josephine, Grandpa George and Grandma Georgina. Then she met Mr. and Mrs. Bucket; a kindly couple took to Ariel right away.

Just as they sat down to eat the delicious full course meal, the door flew open again. Ariel actually let out a laugh, at the appearance of the man who stood in the doorway. He had a purple top hat, huge sunglasses, a mushroom cut, a large purple over coat, a cane filled with what appeared to be nerds and large boots on. He immediately caught sight of her and her laughing.

"Who's this?" He said pointing rudely in her direction.

"This is Ariel, she's a friend of Charlie's and a fan of yours." Mrs. Bucket answered timidly. "Ariel, this is Willy Wonka." Ariel's fork clattered against her plate as she dropped it. She stood up clumsily and made her way over to him. She extended her hand and waited for him to shake it. He glared at it for a few seconds, and then shook it. Ariel noticed he had purple gloves on too.

"I'm sorry, Lily was it?" He asked looking at Mrs. Bucket for the answer.

"Uh, It's Ariel, Mr. Wonka," She said continuing to shake his hand. Until she realized that she was shaking Mr. Willy Wonkas hand and her knees weakened. He immediately reached out and put his other hand under her elbow to support her.

"What's wrong with you?" He asked stupidly.

"I'm fine." She whispered quickly. Willy nodded and let go of her, and she clattered to the ground. Willy walked over, sat in her chair and began to eat her food. She got up on her own and steadied herself. She could feel all eyes on her when she went and sat in the chair beside Willy. Grandpa George looked right at her and asked

"So why did you faint?" he inquired bluntly.

"Sorry about that, she said after clearing her throat loudly. "I just can't believe I'm here! I mean, 10 minutes ago I was just standing outside, looking in at the factory. Now, I'm here eating dinner with Willy Wonka and the lovely Buckets" She paused while saying their name, because she realized why it was so familiar to her. It was her last name. Adriana Bucket was her name, as far as the orphanage knew. The particular orphanage she grew up in, had a policy of not telling the children their last names until they were of age. The orphanage didn't want the kids to know what family's had abandoned them. So Ariel had chosen her own last name, Chesney, and shortened her name to Ariel. After Ariel found out her name she didn't really look for them at all. How much could they love her? They abandoned her, after all. But the idea of having these buckets as distant relatives or something didn't seem so bad.

After she realized all this, she found it hard to swallow her mashed potatoes.

"Are you alright dear?" asked Mrs. Bucket. Ariel nodded her head vigorously.

"Perhaps Willy would give you a proper tour of the factory?" asked boldly. Willy's eyes flew wide at the idea, while Ariel's lit up.

"That would be wonderful!" She exclaimed looking to Willy. He choose this moment to take a long sip of milk. After swallowing he looked between her eager face and the Buckets nodding heads. he gave a defeated sigh and nodded slowly.

"When ever you're ready."

4


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

There were so many rooms to the factory. So many stories to go with them. A boy was shrunk there! A girl was thrown into a garbage shoot by squirrels there! Look! A hair cream room! It was the most fascinating hour of Ariel's life. Willy seemed to notice her interest and acknowledge her knowledge of the candies and chocolate.

"You know a surprising amount about chocolate, almost as much as me. Impressive, extremely impressive." He said patting her back. "Perhaps you would like a job??" He asked coyly. This time he was ready and put his arms out for when she fell, and she did. He caught her and steadied her with quite ease.

She reached out and poked his pale cheek, leaving it slightly red. "Are you for real?" She wondered aloud. He removed her hand from the vicinity of his face and placed it at her side.

"I am very serious, you could stay in one of our bed rooms if you wanted to. Eat dinner with the Buckets and what not." He declared. Ariel nodded, placed her hand over her heart, whispering "I did it" To herself. She jumped when Willy made an odd sound, flapping his tongue around in his mouth somewhat screaming. Suddenly a very small person with green hair, an orange face and green suspenders, ran up to them. Willy spoke more gibberish to the small person, who turned and pulled Ariel's pant leg twice and motioned for her to follow him. Willy nodded and said

"He will show you to your room. Goodnight Lily," He said bowing a little to her and walking away.

"IT'S ARIEL!" she shouted after him but she doubted he heard her. She followed the small person around the factory until he finally stopped and pointed at an oak door across the hall. She looked down at him. "My room?" She asked slowly. The person nodded and walked away.

For some reason her fingers trembled as she reached out turned the doorknob. She breathed in slowly and threw open the door. A world of color met her eager eyes. The walls were a lime green, with hot pink swirls on them. Everything else was painted white with small lime green polka dots on them. The dresser, the bed, the desk, and the back of the door that she had just entered through were all painted in the fashion. The carpet was hot pink, like the swirls on the wall.

"Holy cow." She whispered, running her hands down the wall. If there had been a room like this anywhere else in the world it would not fit. But here it just seemed to fit in adequately. She noticed another door and opened it, revealing a charming little bathroom.

She walked in and was a little disappointed on how… boring it was compared to the bedroom. She slowly walked across the room and sat on the edge of the bathtub. Ariel was about to stand up when she noticed something odd about the bathtub. It had the hot and cold nozzles like any bathtub, but above them there were about 6 switches. Above the first switch it said Water, the second said Chocolate, then it went Root beer, Coke, Tropical punch and last was Milk.

It was then that Ariel looked at the bathroom with more detail. They cups that sat on the side of the sink were hot chocolate mugs. The bottles she had assumed was shampoo was actually whip cream, and chocolate sauce. She hesitantly flicked the _Chocolate_ switch to on and turned the "Hot" nozzle. Her eyes widened as the same chocolate that floated in the chocolate river flowed freely from a bathtub. She let out a laugh, leaned in and drank it straight. "Light, and frothy." She whispered turning off the chocolate spout.

She walked back into her green room and plunked herself on the incredibly comfortable bed. She began to rethink what had happened that night. But it didn't really make sense did it? First of all, why did Charlie let a complete stranger into the factory while knowing how afraid of spies Willy is? Why did the family not ask her many questions? Why did Willy offer her a job after just meeting her? After all she heard about this factory, it a lot less secure then she expected, did they just let anyone in off the streets? Wait, why am I complaining? I have a job at Willy Wonkas Chocolate factory! She thought smacking lightly herself across the face.

Ariel walked back into the bathroom, opened the cupboard above the toilet and found a still packaged toothbrush waiting for her. With chocolate flavored toothpaste right beside it. _Hope I don't get sick of chocolate_. She thought smiling and loaded the toothbrush with the brown paste. She later fell asleep quite easily.


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry this took a while guys, with Christmas, school, rangers, and the humanitarian club at school I have been swamped. Plus the other story I'm doing. Gaah! So little time. Anyway, if there is a snow day tomorrow I will have more time to write. Who knows I may even add more to this chapter. But I thought I may as well post it. Enjoy and R&R please******

**Chapter 3.**

The next morning Ariel awoke to a radio sounding in her ear.

Oh yeah, I'll tell you something,  
I think you'll understand,  
Then I'll say that something,  
I wanna hold your hand,  
I wanna hold your hand,  
I wanna hold your hand.

She yawned and tried to hit the snooze button but missed. She sat up slowly and the world of color hit her eyes again. She remembered the previous nights events.

Oh please say to me  
You'll let me be your man,   
And please say to me,  
You'll let me hold your hand,  
Now let me hold your hand,  
I wanna hold your hand.

She jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom. Her regular electric blue colored brush was sitting at the sink waiting for her. But she didn't bring it over last night did she? No, she brought nothing over. Ariel shrugged and ran the brush through her mane of hair.

**And when I touch you  
I feel happy inside,  
It's such a feeling   
That my love I can't hide,  
I can't hide, I can't hide.  
Yeah, you got that something,  
I think you'll understand,  
when I feel that something**,

Once her hair was brushed and she looked slightly presentable she opened her drawers and found… all of her clothes in them. How did they get there? _They must have come over with the brush_. She mused in her head as she slipped into her most warn and comfortable jeans, and her beat up purple shirt (her old job didn't pay so well.) She left her room and slowly walked down to the small house, humming the same song she had heard waking up.

I wanna hold your hand,  
I wanna hold your hand,  
I wanna hold your hand.

Ariel yawned loudly as she opened the door to the Bucket house 20 minutes later. (She would have gotten there sooner if she hadn't gotten lost. Twice.) She was assaulted with greetings and bright smiles as she sat down to an empty spot at the table. She was in between Grandma Georgina and Charlie. He poked her in the ribs as hard as he could, she groaned and had the urge to slap him around as one would to their little sibling. But she thought it would be inappropriate.

"I've been waiting for you all morning. Willy gave me instructions to show you where to work. Hurry up and eat!" He said urgently. Ariel's stomach let out a loud gurgle and she ate her eggs as fast as she could. She then downed her milk and took the bacon to go. Ariel bid the family _adieu_ and walked out with Charlie.

He led her out to an elevator with glass walls. He pointed to the buttons. "This elevator will take you anywhere in this fine factory. You will work wherever the oompa loompa's need you. For now you can just explore the factory until one of them flags you down." Charlie said pounding her shoulder and turning to leave. "I'll see you after school."

Ariel sighed and watched him leave. She then turned to the various buttons. Goodness, there were a lot of them, Fudge Mountain, TV room, Shearing Room, Hair Gel, Puppet Hospital?? So Ariel closed her eyes and poked her finger out. She jabbed a button that said Experiment Room. The elevator zoomed to the left unexpectedly and Ariel was squished against the glass. Once she steadied herself it came to an abrupt stop and she was thrust against the doors, and they opened just after she hit them. She collided with the floor and all movement in the room stopped, and everyone looked at her. She bounded up as if it happened everyday, and work continued.

Ariel walked around, examining all the different machines, and gizmos. There was a great tank with oompa loompas diving for bright spheres. There was a large machine that was letting out red, yellow and green steam, with an oompa loompa on top stirring what ever was in the large bubbling pot. There were four oompa loompas wandering around with hair growing down to their toes, and many other machines.

She walked over to the one with the tank and asked a near by oompa loompa what it was. He simply pointed at the sign she had not seen on the tank that said "Ever Lasting Gobstoppers." Ariel nodded and looked into the tank. "Awfully big! Aren't they?" she asked him. He shook his head and walked away. Ariel shrugged and continued on. An oompa loompa ran up to her and dragged her by the pant leg to a machine. It had a large pipe, and funnel at the top. The oompa loompa pointed to a bunch of foods on a table. Then at a sign that said, "Must have two main course foods and a desert."

"You want me to pick?" she asked unsurely. The orange-faced man nodded and looked at the foods. There were quite a few. The table looked like it had been set for thanksgiving dinner. Turkey, mashed potatoes, broccoli, brussel sprouts, gelatin salad, and more decorated the table. "What is this for?" she asked him. He pointed rudely at the table again. Ariel sighed, and picked what she would have taken most of if it were her dinnertime. She picked turkey, mashed potatoes and chocolate pudding.

An oompa loompa took her chosen foods and walked up to the top of the machine and dumped them into the funnel. After a lot of mashing sounds, a small piece of gum popped out. The oompa loompa grabbed it, took deep breath in and stuck it in his mouth. She could see him sigh in content when a new flavor flooded his mouth. After a few minutes he was still just standing there. Every once in a while, he would look down at his arms, legs, and cross his eyes to see his nose. Ariel stood there for a half an hour watching this funny little oompa loompa check himself. Suddenly he started jumping up and down. He ran in a circle, then grabbed her pant leg and dragged her out of the room.

There was a small circular red button just outside the door. He slammed it down, and mere seconds later Willy Wonka arrived stylishly in a _flying_ glass elevator. He stepped out of it calmly and looked around.

"Who pressed the button?" he asked looking at Ariel and her oompa loompa friend. The oompa loompa raised his hand, and then did a few odd hand gestures; he made the peace sign, clapped his hand four times and made the gesture of eating.

"Oh my goodness, you let her pick the flavors for the full meal gum? How could you she's a newbie! Who got turned into what?" He asked stepping forward and pushing Ariel to the side. Her little friend shook his head and made more gestures. He threw his hands up in the air, danced in a circle then made the hugest smile Ariel had ever seen on anyone.

"Wait, _she _found the formula of food that didn't turn anyone into a food? Oh my goodness! This is so exciting!" Willy said turning to her, and shaking her hand furiously. "Take a walk with me? We need to discuss this development further!" he continued, walking away without releasing her hand. Ariel was reminded of the song she had heard on the radio just over an hour ago,

**And when I touch you  
I feel happy inside,  
It's such a feeling   
That my love I can't hide,  
I can't hide, I can't hide.**

It wasn't quite what she felt, but she could feel something unknown bubbling inside of her when she was close to Willy. She let go of him quickly to avoid tension. Willy recovered quickly and began to talk, Ariel really only understood bits of it. She had to stop him when he said "split the profits 50/50?"

"Wait, what?" she asked, cutting him off mid-sentence.

"Well, to be fair, you came up with the formula, half the proceeds will go to you." He said simply.

_Generous! _She thought as they continued to walk and talk.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4.

Ariel and Willy talked about business for a while. But ariel didn't understand any of it. All she knew was that she was about to get a lot of money. And she only knew this, because Willy said those exact words. She was told to spend the rest of the day organizing wrappers in the wrapping room. That pretty much involved going through a lot of wrappers to ensure that none of them are in wrong boxes. There were a bunch of boxes with different names on them. Every flavor had a different box. Ariel had to go through almost everyone of them. That was a lot of work for an almost rich person.

At suppertime everyone was sitting around the table. Willy was talking about all the things he had done. And he had done a lot of things. He was trying to figure out something he had never done.

"Traveled around the world?" asked Mrs. Bucket.

"Oh please!" said Willy waving off what she said.

"Ever met the queen?" asked Charlie, shoving a bunch of potatoes in his mouth. Willy held up three fingers.

"The last three. Next!"

"Gotten really drunk and done something crazy?" asked Grandpa Joe.

"Like what?" asked Willy.

"Gotten something pierced? Taken home the ugliest girl at the bar? Gone skinny dipping?" asked Mr. Bucket. Everyone became silent and stared at him. "Not that I've…done any of those things" he said turning right to the ground.

"Those aren't exactly on my to-do list." Said Willy slowly. Ariel, who had just finished her supper stood up and walked to the sink. She searched her mind. What would be on her list?

"Ever fallen in love?" she asked rinsing her plate and placing it in the rack to dry. Willy turned to her and grinned.

"Boy, have I!" he said. He looked into the distance as though he was about to drift off. But then he blinked a couple of times and his eyebrows furrowed down. "Have I?" he asked slowly. Ariel's eyebrows rose in surprise and Mrs. Bucket spoke.

"In my experience, if you have to think about it… you haven't experienced it." She said resting a hand on Willy's purple shoulder. Willy seemed visibly shaken.

"Well, then I guess you haven't." Ariel said without thinking, and taking a gulp of her milk.

"Well have you been?" he asked in a mocking voice. Ariel sprang to her own defense with out even thinking about it.

"Of course I have! His name was…" she racked her brain. She went through every man she ever dated. But not one of them had she ever truly loved. She supported herself on the sink. "Whoaaaaa." She whispered slowly. She saw Willy smile slightly then go back to serious. "Oh shut up." She said walking over and taking the grandparents plates and rinsing them. Mrs. Bucket seemed impressed that Ariel didn't have to be asked to do this.

"So how do you fall in love? How would one go about doing that?" Willy said loudly. Mr. Bucket reached out and put his hand on Mrs. bucket's shoulder.

"It's not something you mean to happen William." Willy raised an eyebrow at the use of his whole name. "But usually it happens pretty fast. It's not something you can plan really. It just… happens."

Willy walked briskly to the door. "Well, I should be off! Goodnight all."

Ariel swallowed the rest of her milk in a hurry.

"I'll come. I have to go the same way. Goodnight Buckets!" she said waving them off. She closed the door behind her, and she heard Mrs. Bucket say that Willy and Ariel would make a cute couple. She felt herself blushing immediately and prayed that Willy had not heard that. He didn't seem to, he walked on as if she wasn't even there. She caught up with him and had to practically run to stay beside him.

"So you're a-" she started to say, but just as she started to Willy started to slide down the hill, towards the chocolate river. Ariel instinctively reached out and grabbed his coat. Only to find the reason why he was slipping. Her feet seemed to have found a part of the grass that was flooded with chocolate. The entire rest of the hill was too. They tried to turn and climb up the hill but they just fell down faster. Willy latched onto her belt loop and pressed his face against her bottom, hanging on for dear life. She was about to tell him to shove off. Until she felt him let go and heard his body splash into the river.

"Bloody hell." Was all she had time to say before she too went tumbling into the chocolaty mess. It was warm, gooey and felt surprisingly nice. She turned to tell Willy this. But he had not yet submerged from the chocolate. She looked around wildly. He was definitely not up yet. She soon found where he was. Something latched onto her leg and pulled her down. It continued to pull her down it came to her waist. Then it wrapped around her. It continued to pull her down it came to her waist. Then it wrapped around her.

_FRICK_ she thought as she tried to swim towards the surface with this thing hanging off her. She finally got there and gasped for air. She grabbed what she assumed was Willy and pulled him up. As soon as surfacing he threw his arms around her neck and gasped for air. "You. Can't… swim?" Ariel wheezed, trying to push him off. He shook his head and refused to let go of her. She couldn't handle all this weight. She began to sink slowly.

"NO." he spat trying to keep her up. Chocolate flew from his mouth and all over her.

"Sick!" she said removing a hand from the water to wipe it off. They began to sink even faster and she slammed it back into the water. They were floating towards one of the pipes. She had a feeling that if they got to close to it they would get sucked up. She could already feel the pull.

_Frick on a stick! _She thought trying to swim with Willy attached to her. All that did was make her choke.

"We have got to get away from that pipe!" Willy said slapping the water.

"NO REALLY? I just happen to have a 160-pound, skittish male around my neck. LETS SEE YOU SWIM WITH THAT!" she said trying paddle. "Put you're arms around my waist and don't let go." She said to him firmly. She waited for him to do it. Then she stuck her whole body and head under water and began to swim. It was incredibly challenging with Willy and the pull. But eventually she hit land. Her arms felt like they were going to fall off. She helped Willy get onto the land first. He got up, brushed himself off and went to walk away. Ariel couldn't believe it. If she stayed in this stuff any more her arms would surely turn into Twix bars.

"WILLY! GET BACK HERE." He whipped around and came back to her. He bent down, took her hands and pulled her up.

"I was kidding." He said. As he pulled her he lost his footing and fell and Ariel's head rested on his chest. He sat up and she was forced to go up too. This was unfortunately the same spot they were standing on before hand and they slid back into the water.

_FRICK ON A STICK WITH A BRICK! _She thought angrily as she came into contact with the brown juice again. She glared at her boss. "Willy Wonka. You are a stupid, stupid man." Lucky, they could stand at this depth of water so Willy had no need to cling to her.

"I know." He said walking towards a part of land that was drier and helped her up first this time, before pulling himself up. Ariel's legs were weak now and she showed it. After taking a step she stooped down a lot to try and walk. Willy put an arm around her and supported her. He did this all the way to her room and they pleasantly walked in silence. He stopped at her door. "You can take it from here then?" he asked slowly. Ariel nodded.

"I think I can." She said smiling. She released him and used the door as support. Willy stood silent for a while. Ariel noticed a big piece of dried chocolate on his cheek.

"Ariel," he said trailing off. "thankyou." He said together very fast. Ariel couldn't help but tease him.

"What was that Willy? I didn't quite catch it." She said smiling. Willy awkwardly leaned down and kissed her cheek lightly.

"Thank you." He whispered standing up tall again. This, Ariel had not been expected. So she perched on her tiptoes and puckered her lips. Preparing to kiss his cheek back. _No, no get out! It's too awkward! Stop! _She thought. So at the last minute she opened her mouth and bit the chocolate off his cheek. She chewed it slowly and stared up at him. After swallowing she bid him goodnight and slid into her room covertly. She moaned and fell against the door. She then spent the next half hour convincing herself she was not falling for Willy Wonka.

It didn't work.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N **A/N. Still very sorry that took so long! I had to rewrite a part of it. So the part in the street is not as good as it was. But my adoring fans will forgive me riiiigghhhttt? Well, here it is. Please enjoy and review!****Chapter 5**

After that half an hour Ariel decided to take a long shower. She was still covered in chocolate after all. It took a lot longer than usual to shower, and not just because of the chocolate mold that covered her skin and hair. But because when she turned on the tap, it was still set in chocolate mode. So fresh chocolate spewed out and covered Ariel from head to toe. Again.

"Typical." She said putting her hands infront of them face and fighting to get to the tap. She flicked the switch from chocolate to water. The liquid went from brown to clear, from delicious to plain, and from hot to cold. She screamed and jumped away from the spray.

She turned it to hot and ran back in. The freshest chocolate washed away immediately. To get the dried stuff off she had to scratch at it. Leaving her skin red with white nail marks in it. Getting it out of her hair was no picnic either. It took nearly a half an hour and a whole shampoo bottle to get it out.

She slipped into her beat up old purple pajama bottoms and her black tank top that hung several inches above her belly button. She slipped into her bed after brushing her teeth, and combing out her rats nest of hair (which she really didn't have to do, it would be the exact same nest in the morning).

She fell asleep easily and was awoken by something small slapping her lightly. She opened her eyes to see a small oompa loompa staring at her. She rolled over and put the pillow over top of her head. The oompa loompa jumped onto her bed and started to shake her and hit her.

"Bloody hell!" Ariel said sitting up and throwing her covers off. She watched the oompa loompa fly across the room as she did this. "Son of a…" she said jumping out of bed towards where he had hit the ground. He sat up as thought nothing had happened and pointed to the clock. Ariel looked up and saw that it read 11:30 am. She rubbed her eyes and looked again. Yup, it was defiantly 11:30.

She had been in the working force long enough to know that this was not good. She shot up, ran to her dresser, grabbed some clothes and slammed the bathroom door behind her. She slipped into them and bolted out towards the Bucket house. She threw open the door to find everyone quietly eating lunch. She was gasping for breath, her hair was a mess, and she had dried drool along her cheek.

"Wha-…. Why didn't you wake me?" she panted sitting down beside Charlie.

"We heard about your ordeal last night and decided you should sleep." Mrs. Bucket said, beginning to make her a popping some doughey things into the oven.

"But you're not my boss!" she said just as Willy entered and passed with out even looking at her. "He is." She whispered to no one.

Willy sat down across from her and looked down at his place mat.

"Ariel. I ah… talked to your former boss to tell him that you are working for me now." He said not taking his eyes off the flowered placemat. Ariel waited for him to finish. Was that all he had to tell her?

"And he thanked me for giving someone with such a tragic past a job here." Ariel's eyes flew wide. She stared at him but he continued to look down.

"And eh… human curiosity prodded me to ask what was so tragic." Oh god. Ohh god. Ariel thought. Visions of living on the street, living in an orphanage, begging people for money and smelling horrible came flooding back to her, she could feel them coming up (possibly along with her lunch). She could feel all the Bucket's eyes on her.

"You told all of them... didn't you?" she said standing up.

"He had to, sweetie." Mrs. Bucket said putting a hand on her shoulder. "It's better we know. Really. If anyone knows anything about being poor, it's us."

"Any way. I was wondering if uh- tomorrow you wanted to gotothisfingwithme?" Willy said from behind his hand.

"What?" Ariel said sitting back down. Willy cleared his throat. He didn't say anything though. This was getting really annoying. "Could someone translate this wonky- sorry Wonka language?"

"Willy wants to take you on a DATE! Because you were poor!" Charlie shouted.

"What?" Ariel and Willy said and stood up at the same time.

"That's not why I want her to go!" he said growing red in the face.

"So you do wanna take me on a date?" Ariel said feeling herself blush.

"uh, er, don't…get to ahead of yourself.." Willy said looking away. "Look, I asked them to put three course gum on the shelves at once. And they did, last night. It was sold out by this morning. They have already nominated it for a "Wrapper"" Willy said. Ariel's jaw dropped. A Wrapper? Those were the Oscars of candy!

"What category?" Ariel inquired combing her hair with her fingers timidly through her hair.

"Best break out candy." Willy said smirking a little.

"And you want me to go?" Ariel said, pushing her finger to her chest.

"Well, you did invent it." Mrs. Bucket said dropping a plate of cinnamon buns infront of her. Ariel plunged back down into her seat and dove for one.

"I guess I could go." Ariel said devouring the bun in a matter of seconds. "I would need to buy a fancy dress though, and get my hair done, and get my nails done. I don't have that kind of money."

Willy stared at her gooey fingers, where the cinnamon bun had just sat.

"I would pay for it all. You could even take the rest of the day off seeing as you didn't do anything this morning. Go get your hair killed or what ever." He looked down at his wrist and gasped. "I have to get back to work!" he said running out the door. Ariel raised an eyebrow.

"Was he even wearing a watch?" She asked looking around at everyone. The whole family shook their heads. "and why would I get my hair killed?" she asked reaching up and touching her messy brown hair.

"I think he meant dyed." Mrs. Bucket said. "So are you going to go get a fancy dress? New shoes? Oh, you are so lucky!" she said gathering up all the dishes.

"Will you come with me?" Ariel said standing up and walking over to her. "Oh pretty please? I would need another woman's opinion." Mrs. Bucket didn't even resist.

"I'll get my coat."

"I kind of want this to be like the prom I never had." Ariel said to Mrs. Bucket as she stepped out in a white dress with black polka dots.

"You didn't go to prom either?" Mrs. Bucket asked, spinning Ariel around.

"Well, no I did. But there wasn't much money in the orphanage I grew up in. So one of the workers gave me her old one and I was…bigger back then so they had to take it in and make it bigger. It was this awful mess of pink and frill and…" Ariel shuddered at the memory. Mrs. Bucket just smiled.

"At least you went to yours. I had some issues at that time. Or rather one big issue." She said putting a hand on her stomach. Ariel was about to say "What were you.. pregnant?" but something stopped her.

She moved onto the next dress of the pile the sales woman had given her. It was pink, so she immediately put it in the "no way José," pile. The next one she picked up was blue and green, stripped horizontally and poofy from the hips down. It was defiantly not Ariel's style but she tried it on anyway. She didn't even look in the mirror before walking out she had so little faith in it.

She left her little changing room and stood shyly in front of Mrs. Bucket who just sat frozen. Ariel groaned and closed her eyes.

"I'll go back in, and we will pretend this never happened" she said turning.

"No!" piped up Mrs. Bucket, shaking her head. "You have to… look in the mirror." Ariel looked at the mirror and her jaw dropped. The dress was in fact perfect, the thin top made her look skinny, and the poofy part made her look like she had an ass. The stripes looked very funky and hip yet classy, and the green in the dress sent off her celery colored eyes. She saw a store clerk come dashing over and hand her a single shoe box. Inside were the most brightly colored green high heels Ariel had ever seen. With any other dress they would be repulsive but with this one they fit right at home. She bought the dress immediately and left without another thought.

They then started down to Ariel's old salon. It was in the poor part of town and Mrs. Bucket seemed rather unsure.

"Shouldn't we go somewhere more professional?" she asked clutching Ariel's arm.

"Nonsense, I've been going to Emilio since I've had hair to be cut!" Ariel said, Mrs. Bucket had been distracted by something else.

"What happened to the orphanage?" She asked pointing at one of blackened buildings on the side of the road.

"it was set fire to, with the children still inside" Ariel said darkly, putting a hand on her thigh, where a scar sat that would never leave from that very experience.

"Oh Ariel, that wasn't yours was it?" Mrs. Bucket said slowly. Ariel shrugged.

"I'm glad it was, all those kids would have died if I hadn't kept going back in. All of our "caretakers" bolted except for one. We got all of them out except for little Adrianna." Mrs. Buckets hand jumped to her mouth,

"Adrianna?" Mrs. Bucket asked.

"Yes?" Ariel said, it then occurred to her Mrs. Bucket meant the little girl. "I mean yes." _Time for a change of subject here, we're going to deep. _Ariel thought hurrying Mrs. Bucket along.

"Well, this is it." Flourished Ariel, revealing the oddly clean shop in the middle of a dirty street. The windows were spotless, the barbers pole out front was spinning and well-designed, and the sign saying "Emilio's Spotless Shave." Was blinking, and all letters were functional. Mrs. Bucket hurried and opened the door, ushering Ariel inside to leave the depressing street behind.

"No wonder the limo driver wouldn't come down here, the purple paint would be stolen right off of it." She said shaking the dirt off her coat. An elegant voice interrupted Ariel's thought for a response.

"Ariel? Is that you? Look at you all clean and rich looking!" Emilio said hugging her quickly. "And who is this Posh Spice look-a-like you've brought with you?" He said taking Mrs. Bucket's hand and kissing it gracefully. Mrs. Bucket's face turned immediately red.

"I'm Mrs. Bucket, as in... married!" she said ripping her hand away as though she had just had an affair with poor Emilio.

"As am I, Senora." He said smiling, his Spanish accent coming through quite strongly. Ariel leaned towards Mrs. Bucket and whispered.

"Emilio is also gay," Mrs. Bucket's eyes flew open and her face went an even deeper shade of red.

"What will it be for you today, Senorita?" he asked sitting her in the spinning chair.

"Why did I get senora?" whispered Mrs. Bucket from beside her. Ariel shot her a look that said "Just drop it!"

"Actually, I am going to an awards show, I need a new stylish hair cut." She said casually, while grabbing a magazine.

"My little Ariel is going to an award show? With whom?" he asked resting his elbows on the chair and his head rested on his hand. Ariel took a giant breath in. He would be the first person she would tell.

"Willy Wonka, of course." She said flipping through the magazine. Emilio's elbow slipped, his head then followed and hit the chair. Ariel jumped out of her chair but he was up before she was.

"Ariel Chesney, ¿Está grave? Oh no, ¿cómo es posible que usted no me dicen acerca de este antes? He sido su corte de pelo durante 20 años!" He broke out into Spanish suddenly. Ariel sank back into the chair, trying to remember her high school Spanish.

"Estoy tan muertos?" she said slowly. Emilio raised an eyebrow. Then Ariel remembered that muetros meant dead in Spanish.

"Tell me the story while I do your hair, comprender?" he said walking to the back to get some hair dye.

2 hours later finally turned her chair around and showed her what she looked like. Ariel gasped, it was longer than it had been before, it now reached down to half way past her bicep. It was a richer brown that looked red in some lights, with light blonde streaks. He had also straightened the bottom half and put the curly parts into a ponytail.

"Emilio, you outdid yourself!" she said running her hand thru the straight part. "I'll need to buy a flat iron now but Willy can afford it." She said jumping up and hugging Emilio.

Back at Willy Wonka's factory in 45 minutes, Ariel was showing off her new hair to the family. The grandmothers cooed over it, the men pretending they noticed even the slightest difference. The oompa loompa's applauded her as she walked by.

The next two days dragged on and on for Ariel. She tried to keep herself busy by helping the oompa loompa's and cooking with Mrs. Bucket but the awards show was all she could think about. Finally it was time for her to get ready and even that seemed to take forever. The oompa loompa who Willy had said was a great hairstylist, had hands too small to use her new straightening iron with. He had to get a second one to help him, while another one did her makeup. When she finally looked in a mirror though she had to admit, they had done an exquisite job.

She slid into her dress and zipped it up. She looked in the mirror and gasped. She truly did look stunning. Ariel smiled to herself. A week ago she was working in a small candy shop selling 4 candy bars a day. Today was in a 600 dress, tons of makeup and 120 shoes, big stretch there. There were two short knocks on her door. She looked in the mirror once more and open the door. Willy stood behind it, in a black (surprisingly not purple) tuxedo, shiny shoes and a top hat. His jaw dropped when he saw her.

"You're the same girl who pushed me into a river of chocolate?" he asked rubbing his eyes. Ariel smiled and chuckled.

"Ready to go?" she asked taking his arm. He bowed to her,

"Your chariot awaits Madame."

6


End file.
